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Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Review

By:
Scott Huver
Jun 19, 2007

The Incredibles had nothing on the hip snappy neurotic FF depicted in over 100 issues of co-creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original wildly inventive ‘60s era comic books. Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) is still an absent-minded genius who mildly neglects his loved ones but with more of a mild Tim Allen sitcom dad-type quirkiness; the Invisible Girl (Jessica Alba) is still the team’s mother hen but frets less over her man’s workaholic tendancies; the Human Torch (Chris Evans) is still a flaming id but he’s trying to ease out of his arrested adolescence; and The Thing (Michael Chiklis) is far less tortured over his freakish rocky form now that he’s got a steady date in the blind Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington). And yes someone does wonder aloud exactly how the Thing gets his freak on. A few soft sex jokes aside this ride is aimed far more squarely for a younger audience as well as those moviegoers who long for the glory days of the f/x-filled disaster films of the late ‘90s when any recognizable tourist landmark depicted is sure to be blown to bits. The threat on this go-round is Galactus a cosmic planet-eating menace who has sent his herald the sleek Silver Surfer (a CGI creation given movement by Doug Jones of Hellboy and voiced by Laurence Fishburne). The Silver Surfer wreaks havoc on places like London and Japan before the Four takes him on playfully squabbling along the way like the cosmic-powered leads of a new Vacation film. The leads are more comfortable and try to notch up the comedic possibilities: Evans’ brash Vince Vaughn-ish portrayal of the Torch was a highlight of the first film but feels far more forced this time around; the great but ultimately handicapped Chiklis does what he can through latex and a silly gravel voice but isn’t given much to do; Alba continues to gradually grow as an actress but this film accomplishes the seemingly impossible by making her look as unattractive as she’s ever likely to appear with bad apparently irritating blue contacts a distracting fake blonde wig and a makeup job that makes her look more like a plastic action figure than a real superhero; but Gruffudd comes through with more distracted charm than in his first turn. Poor Julian McMahon an actor with an avowed fondness for the comic book source material is again miscast as Dr. Doom. He has even less to work with this time around in a part that should ideally be part-ham part-Hitler and part-Eurotrash coming of instead a snarky playboy in armor. The most interesting acting save for a tasty cameo performance by Stan Lee himself comes from the CGI Surfer but despite his silvery sheen and clear intention to be spun off into his own film franchise is still a colorless personality character-wise. Aided and abetted by generally great-looking special effects from New Zealand’s Weta Workshop writer-director Tim Story moves past some of the awkward meet-and-greet of the first film but this time he’s dropped much of the intended pathos. Story’s visual style is far more polished and appealing this time around but the helmer still lacks the fully-fledged senses of the cosmic the cinematic the mind-blowing the genuinely human and the downright funny to fully convey the true head trippy-ness that defined the original comic book and launched a whole Marvel Universe of superheroes with flawed but lovable personalities. Even with all of the characters’ origins out of the storytelling way Story can’t quite equal Bryan Singer’s X-Men trick or Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man successes to radically outdo the original. Still there’s plenty of eye-candy – from the end-of-the-world f/x to Alba and Evans in spandex – and the proceedings are mercifully fast-paced making for a mildly enthralling day at the multiplex for the whole family.

Batman Begins writer David Goyer is setting his sights on another superhero property--he is directing the spin-off movie to the X-Men trilogy, Magneto.
The movie will focus on the young Magneto, the villain of the X-Men pictures, and how he became mortal enemies with character Professor X, played by Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart in the trilogy.
The main characters in the spin-off will be played by actors in their twenties instead of the original cast.
Goyer has previously worked on superhero movies Batman Begins and the Blade trilogy as well as new movie The Invisible.
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This story--and various versions of the script--has been bouncing around Hollywood for years. It was so brazenly preposterous that I never dreamed anyone would make an actual movie out of it. Enter producer Jerry Bruckheimer for whom brazen preposterousness is more than just a way of life it's a higher calling. Add a dollop of Raiders of the Lost Ark and a nearly litigious dose of The Da Vinci Code and voila: it's a kiddie-friendly action-adventure.
There's a treasure map written in invisible ink on the verso of the Declaration of Independence. That's right the one that's hanging in Washington D.C. surrounded by an entire phalanx of Homeland Security agents who would shoot a jaywalker on sight. So of course it must be stolen by treasure hunter Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) and his wisecracking sidekick Riley (Justin Bartha) along with the initially reluctant archivist (Diane Kruger)--you know that old chestnut. The map is thought to lead to the fabulous treasures of the Knights Templar war spoils from the Crusades that have been handed down from the Knights to the Freemasons several of whom were Founding Fathers who wrote the very Declaration itself. Coincidence? I think not.
We learn all of this in an opening exposition that could be one of the most monotonous ever filmed. Remember the scene where Indiana Jones draws the Ark of the Covenant on the chalkboard and eloquently outlines the whole movie in a few riveting lines? This is like that except about 15 minutes longer and nearly devoid of a pulse. Then for the stalwart few that can make it that far the convoluted--though often entertaining--chase is on.
As he did with the equally ludicrous Con Air Bruckheimer collects an ensemble of overpowering talent who are then distractingly miscast. Christopher Plummer plays Ben's grandfather and Jon Voight plays his father even though the two men were born 11 years apart! Harvey Keitel as the FBI agent on the case plays it straight which seems a waste given it's Keitel and Sean Bean plays the bad guy with the funny accent. Bartha fares better in comic relief and Kruger is well blonde.
I know he's got bills to pay and ex-wives to feed but the action hero phase of Cage's career has lasted far longer than is really necessary. Ever since Face/Off Cage has maintained a Travolta-esque pace of cashing $20 million paychecks for mediocre action movies. He's neither as wildly over-the-top here as he was in Con Air nor as understated as he was in Windtalkers. But he is interesting and as always watchable. If anything he oversells the geek in Ben Gates and plays it too straight like Keitel. We certainly get that he's not the most socially adept treasure hunter out there because Indiana Jones never looked or acted like this.
Jon Turteltaub is a veteran of studio hack work (3 Ninjas Phenomenon) and he adds no more distinctiveness to National Treasure than a plumber installing a faucet. But let's face it the star and director of this project is Bruckheimer. And it's become fairly obvious that he's lost touch with his audience. Pearl Harbor and Armageddon were misguided but at least they had plausible points of departure. National Treasure represents a hubristic effort to impose the Bruckheimer aesthetic on the least likely source material possible--and the guilty pleasure is gone. The legend of the Templars is fascinating and the historical tidbits on display here are "good for kids" in that most obvious of ways but this do-gooder Bruckheimer is an oxymoron that has little chance of success. Although I'd love to see him try Schoolhouse Rock replete with his beloved explosions.

Sopranos's Falco beats breast cancer
Edie Falco, best known as the tough-as-nails Carmela Soprano on HBO's The Sopranos, has successfully completed treatment for breast cancer and has gotten a clean bill of health, Falco's spokesperson told The Associated Press. The 41-year-old Emmy-winning actress, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, apparently continued to work on the hit HBO show while undergoing treatment, but the spokesperson wouldn't comment on whether she had surgery or chemotherapy, AP reports. Falco will soon begin rehearsals for Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, 'night, Mother, also starring Brenda Blethyn, which will open on Broadway in November.
Pam Anderson a novelist
With a little help, that is. Former Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson has written a novel Star with the help of a ghostwriter. "The first meeting we knew it was magic," Anderson told AP about her not-so-invisible ghostwriter Eric Shaw Quinn. Anderson and Quinn were introduced by Anderson's publisher after she decided not to write an autobiography. The book is a semi-fictionalized version of Anderson's life filled with steamy sex scenes, based on the actress' real-life relationships with celebrities Scott Baio and Kid Rock.
Brandy engaged for second time
After defending reports that she and record producer Robert Smith, the father of her 2-year-old daughter, Sy'rai, were never married, Brandy is now engaged to pro basketball player Quentin Richardson, who just signed a deal with the Phoenix Suns. In an interview with Us Weekly, AP reports the 25-year-old pop singer said, "This time, I want so badly for my marriage to work out. If it doesn't, I don't ever want to date again. I'll be a nun, raise my daughter and make albums." Smith had said their supposed marriage was a ruse to protect the image of Brandy, who was then pregnant, but Brandy declared that she and Smith had secretly wed in 2001; "The truth is that we didn't have a traditional marriage," Brandy told Us Weekly. "We had an understanding--I dedicated my life to him and he dedicated himself to me. No, we didn't have a minister officiate, but in our hearts, we lived as a married couple." Smith and Brandy broke up in early July of last year and Smith has filed for custody of their daughter.
Will Smith gives impromptu free concert
At the London premiere of his new sci-fi flick I, Robot, Will Smith delighted fans with an outdoor concert, AP reports. Accompanied by DJ Jazzy Jeff, Smith performed for about 3,000 people Wednesday outside the Odeon theater in London's Leicester Square. The set included hits "Summertime" and "Men in Black," and Smith's latest single, "Switch." "When you have these kind of events everybody can't get in. I wanted to give the people who came to support me a little treat out here," the 35-year-old actor-rapper said.
Hepburn's home is sold
Katharine Hepburn's waterfront home in Old Saybrook, Conn., has been sold to a neighbor who plans to renovate the property, Hepburn's real estate agent told AP. Frank Sciame, a New York City-based architect signed a contract to buy the home, but the real estate agent would not disclosed the sale amount. The 8,000-square-foot brick house, which sits on 3.3 acres and overlooks Long Island Sound, has nine bedrooms, eight bathrooms and five fireplaces. Hepburn died June 29, 2003. She was 96.
Legendary French photographer dies
Dubbed "the eye of the century," French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the great photographers of the 20th century and a founder of the Magnum picture agency, died in the south of France, Reuters reports. He was 95.
Spanish-language reality show
A Spanish-language reality TV show is offering contestants the services of immigration lawyers for one year to guide them towards a permanent residency in the U.S., the AP reports. Gana la Verde (Win the Green), a Fear Factor-type show that challenges contestants to do things like swallow down live tequila worms and jump between two speeding 18-wheelers, began airing daily last month in Los Angeles, also airs in San Diego, Houston and Dallas stations. The show's winner receives a year's worth of help from attorneys to expedite the residency process-without the guarantee of a green card. Many of the contestants on the show, which has consistently reached an average of 1 million Hispanic households and last week was No. 2 among 18-to-49-year-old Hispanic viewers, have student or work visas or have applied to become residents.

Top Story: Pitt To Host BBC Radio Documentary
Brad Pitt will host a music documentary on the late British singer-songwriter Nick Drake for BBC Radio 2, Reuters reports. Drake, who died of a drug overdose in 1974 at the age of 26, is regularly cited as an influence by some of Radio 2's core artists, including REM, Paul Weller and Badly Drawn Boy," said Lesley Douglas, Controller BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music. "I was introduced to Nick Drake's music about five years ago, and am a huge admirer of his records," Pitt said in a BBC statement. "When Radio 2 approached me to get involved in this project, I was delighted to be asked." The program, which airs on May 22, includes a Norah Jones version of Drake's song "Day is Done."
Queer Eye Aims at Straight Girls
Bravo has greenlit 13 episodes of their newest reality series Queer Eye for the Straight Girl, which spins off their hugely successful Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. "It's something our female fans have been requesting since Queer Eye became a hit," Bravo topper Jeff Gaspin told Variety, adding that he isn't concerned the channel would be overpowered by the franchise. " Straight Girl goes on the air a year and a half after the original launched, so I think enough time will have passed," he opined. Variety reports a new team of gay lifestyle coaches will come to the aid of frumpy femmes. Casting is under way for a debut next year.
Limbaugh's Appeal May Keep Him Out of Court
Rush Limbaugh's attorney will argue before an appeals court in Florida Wednesday to keep Limbaugh's medical records sealed, citing patient/doctor confidentiality, in the criminal investigation currently brewing against the conservative radio host, AP reports. Limbaugh, 53, who sought treatment for an addiction to painkillers late last year, has been accused of illegally buying prescription drugs by "doctor shopping" or visiting several doctors to receive duplicate prescriptions of controlled narcotics, AP reports. Limbaugh--who believes he is being pursued by Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer, a Democrat, for political gain--has not been charged with a crime as yet and if the appeal goes through, the investigation against him could be stalled for good.
3000 Degrees Gets Cold
The production start on Warner Bros.' fire disaster flick 3000 Degrees, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Ed Harris and Woody Harrelson, has been indefinitely put on hold, Variety reports. The film, which centered on the real-life 1999 blaze at the Worcester Cold Storage warehouse in Massachusetts that claimed the lives of six firefighters, had been strongly opposed by relatives of some of the victims and firefighter groups in Worcester. But Variety reports the studio finally nixed the production when the International Assn. of Fire Fighters, the union that represents 85 percent of all firefighters in North America, told producers that out of allegiance to those families, its members would not assist the film's production, in effect denying production crews access to fire stations, fire trucks, other equipment and technical consultation services to ensure the accuracy of the film.
Motown Special To Air
The taping of ABC's television special Motown 45, which will air in May, featured the talents of Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Lionel Ritchie and Cedric the Entertainer, commemorating the label's legacy, Reuters reports. Performances taped on Sunday also included Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland teaming with Supremes' Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong on a Supremes medley and with Richie on "Endless Love," Michael McDonald covering Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and Nick Lachey and Jermaine Jackson dueting on "I'll Be There." Click here to see the photo gallery!
Stone Speaks at Tribeca Film Festival
Actress Sharon Stone is scheduled to take part in panels during next month's Tribeca Film Festival, joining other distinguished celebrities such as director Martin Scorsese and news anchor Peter Jennings, The Associated Press reports. Stone, known for sexy turns in films such as Basic Instinct, will discuss the evolution of sex in the cinema along with John Cameron Mitchell, the director, co-writer and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Scorsese, who helped found the festival with Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal of Tribeca Films, is set to talk about the use of music in his movies, while Jennings will moderate a discussion on "Jesus as Celebrity." Tribeca Film Festival will run from May 1-9.
Role Call, Part I: Fantastic Four Gets Director, John Woo Gets Metroid
Barbershop director Tim Story has been tagged to direct Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four for 20th Century Fox. The film will follow follows the exploits of venerable Marvel Comics characters Reed and Sue Richards, Benjamin Grimm and Johnny Storm--better known to comic fans as Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Thing and the Human Torch. No cast has been set as …Director John Woo (Mission: Impossible 2) has optioned Nintendo's best-selling video game franchise Metroid for the big screen. The movie will center on the origins of the game's female protagonist, sexy bounty hunter Samus Aran, and relate her adventures battling the insidious life-sucking Metroids and their controlling force, Mother Brain.
Role Call, Part II: Diane Lane is Fierce, King's Men Remake in Works
Diane Lane has set her sights on Lions Gate's thriller Fierce People as her next project. The film revolves around a woman (Lane) who tries to start anew with her son after his brush with the law, when she is attacked and her new life is shattered…Schindler's List writer Steven Zaillian will direct a remake of All the King's Men, with Sean Penn being touted for the lead. Based on Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the story follows the rise and fall of populist Southern poli

It's a weekend of questions at the box office.
Will "Hollow Man" leave audiences feeling empty? Will "Coyote Ugly" be sitting pretty? Will "Space Cowboys" get stuck at the launchpad due to arthritis?
Or will "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps" feast upon moviegoers' money for the second weekend in a row?
None of this weekend's newcomers appears to have the mass appeal needed to crack the $20 million mark, which seems to be the prerequisite for a No. 1 opening these days. That might leave Eddie Murphy's flabby comedy as the big winner; if so, it'll be the first film to top the box office heap for two consecutive weekends in two months.
Here's a brief overview of this weekend's openers:
"Hollow Man" HOLLOW MAN (See the trailer) The Skinny: Kevin Bacon is a nutty scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility. Not content to merely be a see-through dude, Bacon uses his new power to terrorize everyone. Cool. The Upside: Bacon doesn't become invisible all at once; he vanishes in layers, so you can see his skin and organs, then his skeleton, then poof! Nothing. The Downside: Once he's gone, there's nothing left to this flick.
"Coyote Ugly" COYOTE UGLY (See the trailer) The Skinny: A coming-of-age story about a small-town girl (Piper Perabo) trying to make it as a songwriter and bartender in the big city. The Upside: Good lookin' women. Lots of 'em. With tight clothes. The Downside: It's "Valley of the Dolls" without the pills, sexism and, unfortunately, the campy fun.
"Space Cowboys"
SPACE COWBOYS (See the trailer) The Skinny: Four old ex-pilots are launched into space to repair a broken-down Russian satellite. Little do they realize the true purpose of their mission. The Upside: Clint Eastwood is one bad dude, even in his autumn years. The Downside: Donald Sutherland and James Garner are not bad dudes; Tommy Lee Jones is a bad dude, but he's curiously younger than the rest of these geezers.
Meanwhile, don't forget "What Lies Beneath," "X-Men," "Scary Movie" and "The Perfect Storm," all of which ain't dead yet.

Just when you thought the "Batman" franchise had left superhero movies creatively bankrupt, caped crusaders and masked villains are invading Hollywood once again.
This summer's release of "X-Men" promises to be the first in a long list of big-budget comic book adaptations. Many of these were on the back burner for several years but have been making headlines in recent weeks, ever since it was announced that Sam Raimi will likely be the director of Sony's long-awaited "Spider-Man" movie.
"The Greatest American Hero" The latest, and perhaps most bizarre, project announced is a big-screen version of "The Greatest American Hero," the early 1980s TV show that starred William Katt as bumbling superguy Ralph Hinkley (the character's surname was changed to "Hanley" after John Hinckley's attempted assassination of President Reagan). Space aliens give Hinkley a superhero suit and an instruction manual, but he loses the manual and must learn how to harness the powers of the suit on his own, with zany, madcap results. The show, which also starred Connie Sellecca as Katt's girlfriend and Robert Culp as his boss, is probably best remembered for its scenes of Katt learning how to fly and for its zippy theme song. According to Daily Variety, Touchstone Pictures has bought the rights to make a film about the knight-errant man in red tights and has hired two screenwriters to put the project in motion. No word yet on whether the "hero" will turn in those tights for 1990s-style body armor a la Batman.
While the "Greatest American Hero" news came from out of the blue, other super-duper movies have been eagerly awaited by comic geeks, studio licensing executives and toy manufacturers for most of the 1990s. Finally, just last week, Variety reported that the "Fantastic Four" movie, with its long and tangled history, might finally get off the ground with director Roger Donaldson ("Dante's Peak") at the controls. It's a merchandiser's dream -- four superheroes, plus the villains! -- and it's been in the works since 1994, when Marvel Comics made legal maneuvers to prevent director Oley Sassone from releasing his $2 million feature film version of the classic comic.
It's not that Sassone's version wasn't licensed by Marvel, but the comics publisher had received a bigger, better offer from producer-director Chris Columbus ( "Bicentennial Man") to do a first-class job; thus, the cheap quickie was never released and has been relegated to grainy bootleg videotapes sold on the underground. Now Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, the Invisible Girl and Human Torch, not to mention their nemesis Dr. Doom will probably command a $100 million budget if they ever make it to the screen.
The "Fantastic Four" news comes after word that several other Marvel properties are also moving from the back burner to the front. Last week, the trades reported that Columbia Pictures is close to hiring director Mark Steven Johnson ( "Simon Birch") to write and direct "Daredevil," the story of a blind criminal defense attorney by day who dresses up like a demon by night and stalks the city for criminals using his radar-like, radioactivity-enhanced senses to detect danger and evil-doers. Then there's "Dr. Strange," which writer-director Chuck Russell ( "Eraser") has recently been hired (also by Columbia) to develop. There's no speculation yet as to who'll play the young, crime-fighting psychiatrist Stephen Strange, who was known to utter strange incantations such as "By the hoary host of Hoggoth."
While Marvel Comics has the lion's share of superhero movies in the works (studios are also working on adaptations of "The Silver Surfer" and "The Incredible Hulk," although those two projects have been stuck in development hell for some time), rival publisher DC Comics isn't out of the picture, not by a long shot.
Apparently not even George Clooney and Joel Schumacher could succeed in killing Warner Bros.' "Batman" franchise. The studio is reportedly talking to "Pi" director Darren Aronofsky about making "Batman 5," and the studio's highly anticipated "Superman Reborn," once known as "Superman Forever," is said to be gearing up again now after being shelved two years ago when Tim Burton walked away (or was fired, depending on what you believe).
Warners is said to be pleased with the new "Superman" screenplay by Bill Wisher, and the candidate for Most Unlikely to Direct is ... Oliver Stone. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stone is the No. 1 candidate for the job, and the studio wants to take a nontraditional approach to America's most traditional superhero, "sans the tights and more 'Matrix' like." Did Lex Luthor kill President Kennedy? Stay tuned.